Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Member of Parliament after the Surat court docket determination.
New Delhi:
In one other setback for Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, the Gujarat Excessive Courtroom has refused to grant an interim keep on his conviction in a felony defamation case over his “Modi surname” comment during which he was sentenced to 2 years in jail by a Surat court docket. The court docket will give an order on his petition publish the summer season trip, after June 4.
The previous Congress president had sought an interim keep of the conviction until the Excessive Courtroom pronounced the order on his petition.
Rahul Gandhi, who represented Wayanad parliament constituency in Kerala, was convicted on March 23 underneath sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code for felony defamation within the case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi.
He was disqualified as a Member of Parliament after the Surat court docket’s determination. The regulation states that if a member is convicted of any offence for 2 or extra years, his or her seat will likely be declared vacant. One can solely keep within the parliament if the conviction is suspended.
The senior Congress chief vacated his official residence, which he had since 2005, final month after shedding his parliament membership. The Lok Sabha Housing Committee had despatched him a letter to vacate his 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow.
Throughout an earlier listening to on April 29, Mr Gandhi’s lawyer had argued {that a} most punishment of two years for a bailable, non-cognisable offence meant he might lose his Lok Sabha seat “completely and irreversibly”, which was a “very severe further irreversible consequence to the individual and the constituency he represents”.
The alleged offence was non-serious in nature and didn’t contain ethical turpitude, and but Mr Gandhi’s disqualification, due to not staying his conviction, would have an effect on him in addition to the folks of his constituency, he had mentioned.
On April 3, Mr Gandhi’s lawyer approached the periods court docket with two functions, one for bail and one other for a keep on conviction pending his attraction, alongside along with his fundamental attraction towards the decrease court docket’s order sentencing him to 2 years in jail.
Whereas the court docket granted his bail, it rejected his plea for a keep on conviction.
Final Wednesday, Justice Gita Gopi of the Gujarat Excessive Courtroom recused herself from listening to the case after it was introduced earlier than her for an pressing listening to. The matter was then assigned to Justice Hemant Prachchhak.
